Realization of a 3He–4He Vapor-Pressure Thermometer for Temperatures Between 0.65 K and 5 K at LNE-CNAM

In the temperature range between 0.65 K and 5 K, the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90) is based on 3He and 4He vapor-pressure thermometers. Between 0.65 K and 1 K, the ITS-90 overlaps with the Provisional Low Temperature Scale of 2000 (PLTS-2000), defined in term of the melting pressure of 3He. Some differences, up to more than 1 mK, exist between the two scales in the overlapping interval. The LNE-CNAM has recently started the construction of a 3He–4He vapor-pressure thermometer to realize the ITS-90 in its lowest subrange at the highest degree of accuracy. The device is provided with two separate vapor-pressure chambers, one for 3He and the other for 4He, built in a single copper block, and is installed in the experimental space of a dilution refrigerator. The vapor-pressure thermometer is designed to accommodate on the same copper block several transfer standards, an acoustic thermometer, and the 3He melting-pressure thermometer. This configuration is intended for realizing calibrations of transfer standards down to 0.65 K, for investigating the possibility to extend the acoustic thermometer below 4 K, and to perform a direct comparison between the ITS-90 and the PLTS-2000 in the overlapping temperature range, in order to study their differences. The realization of the system has been recently accomplished, and this report illustrates the characteristics of such an experimental device.